In a corner booth at a recent Madison festival, Janine Wyman welcomed shoppers to a display of books sorted by the genres she offers: fantasy, thriller, mystery, romance and fiction.
A separate stack of “spicy” books sat near the checkout table, draped in a cloth printed with the Pickle’s Bookshelf logo — an image of a gray cat reading a book, inspired by Wyman’s real cat, Pickle.
Here’s the plot twist: At Pickle’s Bookshelf, shoppers can’t see the book covers. Each book was wrapped in brown paper with hints about the story inside, part of a trend known as “blind date with a book.”
“It’s a fun idea. It would be a fun gift too, I think,” one shopper told Wyman while browsing. Reactions like these are common, Wyman said. Less than a year in, she’s still testing the waters, rotating through different markets to see which crowds connect most with the concept…